TUKWILA, Wash. – Seattle Sounders FC goalkeeper Kasey Keller will give it a go for one more year.
In a press conference on Friday, the former US international announced that he will play a 20th season in his illustrious career – his third with the Sounders – before definitively calling it quits.
“From day one, I’ve always said that I only wanted to do it if I could still compete at that level,” said Keller. “I’ve always felt that standard that I have set for myself. I don’t want to be that guy that everybody says, ‘You really should have retired last year.’ The way I feel physically, the way I feel mentally, I see no reason why I can’t continue on for one more season and then be able to go out on my own terms.”
Keller has been one of the best goalkeepers in Major League Soccer in his two seasons with the Seattle. He has posted an aggregate 1.04 goals-against average in league matches and his 457 scoreless minutes to begin the 2009 season still stands as an MLS record.
[inline_node:321012]Keller, 41, has also been durable. The veteran said he had only missed three to four practices in two years and was proud of playing more minutes in all competitions than any other player in MLS. In the past two regular seasons, the former he started 59 of 60 regular-season matches and recorded 5,204 minutes, more than any other goalkeeper.
The one match he missed came as the result of a red card, not injury.
With the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps set to join the league in 2011, Keller indicated that the allure of the Cascadia rivalries played a major role in his decision to come back.
“The thought of being able to also play against Portland, against Vancouver one more year is just something I just felt I wanted to be a part of,” Keller said.
After he finishes playing, Seattle GM Adrian Hanauer said Keller will “always be a part of the Sounders family,” and Keller noted that his continued involvement in the organization has been in the works since he first met with Hanauer in London.
While nothing has been decided, Keller would be open to anything from company operations, player personnel, coaching or even broadcasting alongside Sounders play-by-play announcer Arlo White.
“I’m more than happy to find a piece of everything,” Keller said. “It’s hard to find out what you truly like to do when you haven’t done it yet. I feel comfortable in multiple avenues in the club and what feels right and whatever is right for the club at that time.”
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